Landslide in Vaishno Devi, devotees stuck after route diverted; avalanche alert in Uttarakhand

Landslide in Vaishno Devi was reported on roads of shrine (J&K) due to heavy rains. No casualty has been reported  for the time being and repair work is underway.Several landslides have also been reported in the region thus affecting traffic.

Shooting stones at several places are hampering the normal flow of traffic, adequate number of men and machinery have been deployed to clear the debris from the highway.

Meanwhile the Batote-Kishtwar national highway, which was closed last night following a landslide at Ragi-Nullah due to heavy rain, was reopened today and around 250 stranded vehicles were allowed to move ahead, he said.

Landslide on roads of Mata Vaishno Devi's Bhawan (J&K) due to heavy rains, repair work underway. pic.twitter.com/6sUJWGZv7V

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 13, 2016

A heavy landslide was reported at Ragi-Nullah where besides debris, a huge boulder had blocked the highway.

“Landslides, debris and shooting stones again blocked the national highway which connects twin Districts of Doda and Kishtwar with rest of the state late last night.

“After 18 hours of closure the previous day due to landslides at half-a-dozen places on Batote-Thathri stretch restoration operation was launched this morning and traffic was restored later in the day,” Doda SSP, Zahid Naseem Manhas said.

An avalanche warning has been issued for higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the second consecutive day owing to the ongoing spell of heavy rainfall across the state.

Landslide reported near 'Bhawan' of Mata Vaishno Devi . Seems the main road on top has disappeared #Jammu #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/5pATEldAvY

— Kolahoi (@PawanDurani) March 13, 2016

People in the higher reaches of the state have been advised not to venture into these places over the next 24 hours.

The advisory was issued by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), part of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

‘Medium danger’ warning was issued for avalanche prone areas in Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipore, Kargil, Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam, Rajouri, Doda and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir state.

Pharkian, Z-Gali, Kanzalwan, Banihal Top, Gulmarg, Haddan Taj and Neelam areas of Jammu and Kashmir witnessed fresh snowfall of 39 cm, 8 cm, 5 cm, 10 cm, 10 cm, 38 cm, 33cm and 7 cm respectively during the last 24 hours.